The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is revising regulations on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as required by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) to update the Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) Programs for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, cotton, honey, wool and mohair. In general, the 2014 Farm Bill extends the existing programs with the minor changes that are implemented in this rule, including a revised formula for upland cotton loan rates. This rule also amends the regulations for the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Users of Upland Cotton Program, the Extra Long Staple (ELS) Cotton Competitiveness Payment Program, and the Sugar Program to reflect that the programs were extended by the 2014 Farm Bill. Most of the provisions in this rule have already been implemented, beginning with the 2014 crop year.

Effective Date: December 15, 2014. Comment Date: We will consider comments that we receive by February 13, 2015.

7 CFR Part 718

Summary

This rule implements changes to the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) as required by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill), including changes to eligible crops, provisions governing eligibility of native sod acreage, additional coverage levels, and waivers of service fees and premium reductions for beginning, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged producers. This rule also clarifies requirements for eligible types and causes of loss and expands coverage for eligible mollusk and other aquaculture losses. This rule clarifies that the Farm Service Agency (FSA) may set separate market prices for organic crops and for direct to consumer sales. The changes are relatively minor and do not change the core purpose of NAP, which is to provide financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yield, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occurs due to a natural disaster.

Effective date: September 26, 2014. First annual enrollment date: By June 1, 2015, for the 2014 and 2015 crop years.

7 CFR Part 718

Summary

This rule implements the new Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill). It also includes conforming changes to certain Farm Service Agency (FSA) regulations that apply to multiple programs. ARC and PLC provide producers a choice between a program that provides counter-cyclical type of payment support—PLC, and a revenue support type of program—ARC. During a defined election period, current producers can elect different programs for different covered commodities on a farm, for example, choosing PLC for corn and ARC county option for soybeans on the same farm. ARC offers the additional choice of a revenue guarantee based on average revenue for a county or on actual historical revenue for an individual farm. If a producer elects ARC individual coverage based on historical revenue for that specific farm, however, all the farm's covered commodities are elected with that option, with no option for PLC on that farm. This rule specifies the eligibility requirements, enrollment procedures, and payment calculations for ARC and PLC.

This is a list of United States Code sections, Statutes at Large, Public Laws, and Presidential Documents, which provide rulemaking authority for this CFR Part.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is revising regulations on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as required by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) to update the Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) Programs for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, cotton, honey, wool and mohair. In general, the 2014 Farm Bill extends the existing programs with the minor changes that are implemented in this rule, including a revised formula for upland cotton loan rates. This rule also amends the regulations for the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Users of Upland Cotton Program, the Extra Long Staple (ELS) Cotton Competitiveness Payment Program, and the Sugar Program to reflect that the programs were extended by the 2014 Farm Bill. Most of the provisions in this rule have already been implemented, beginning with the 2014 crop year.

Effective Date: December 15, 2014. Comment Date: We will consider comments that we receive by February 13, 2015.

7 CFR Part 718

Summary

This rule implements changes to the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) as required by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill), including changes to eligible crops, provisions governing eligibility of native sod acreage, additional coverage levels, and waivers of service fees and premium reductions for beginning, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged producers. This rule also clarifies requirements for eligible types and causes of loss and expands coverage for eligible mollusk and other aquaculture losses. This rule clarifies that the Farm Service Agency (FSA) may set separate market prices for organic crops and for direct to consumer sales. The changes are relatively minor and do not change the core purpose of NAP, which is to provide financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yield, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occurs due to a natural disaster.

Effective date: September 26, 2014. First annual enrollment date: By June 1, 2015, for the 2014 and 2015 crop years.

7 CFR Part 718

Summary

This rule implements the new Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill). It also includes conforming changes to certain Farm Service Agency (FSA) regulations that apply to multiple programs. ARC and PLC provide producers a choice between a program that provides counter-cyclical type of payment support—PLC, and a revenue support type of program—ARC. During a defined election period, current producers can elect different programs for different covered commodities on a farm, for example, choosing PLC for corn and ARC county option for soybeans on the same farm. ARC offers the additional choice of a revenue guarantee based on average revenue for a county or on actual historical revenue for an individual farm. If a producer elects ARC individual coverage based on historical revenue for that specific farm, however, all the farm's covered commodities are elected with that option, with no option for PLC on that farm. This rule specifies the eligibility requirements, enrollment procedures, and payment calculations for ARC and PLC.